I Robot, You Jane Rewritten
by ConfusedColumbia26220
Summary: So, I am rewriting every single episode of Buffy, with one slight change – Jenny Calendar killed off in Passion, season 2 episode 17 will be in every single one. Don't like it, don't read it. That simple. S1E8
1. Chapter 1

**AN: So, I am rewriting every single episode of Buffy, with one slight change – Jenny Calendar (killed off in Passion, season 2 episode 17) will be in every single one. Don't like it, don't read it. That simple. If you do like it, I would also suggest that you start out by reading the first seven rewritten episodes, before you read this. This is the 8th episode rewritten for season one. In the summaries S#E# represents what season and episode the story takes place. It would be best if you went in order - I guarantee you will be lost unless you go episode by episode. **

In every generation there is a Chosen One. She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons and the forces of darkness. She is the Slayer.

In a castle in Cortona, Italy, in the year 1418, a young man by the name of Carlo was standing by a window, looking into the room at his master.

"Carlo, caro mio." Translated into, 'Carlo, my dear one.'

Carlo came into the room and over to Moloch. He knelt. Moloch stepped over to him and put his hand on his head.

Moloch's face was very demonic. "Mi ami? Ti darò tutto. Tutto quello che desidero è il tuo amore." Translated into, 'Do you love me? I can give you everything. All I want is your love.'

"Tu hai il mio amore," Carlo answered. 'You have my love.'

Moloch growled and quickly twisted Carlo's head, snapping his neck.

Inside a church, the priest Thelonius was talking to a group of monks bearing torches. "E fuori. E il diavolo, Molocco. E fuori nel mondo, facendo tante cose male. Abbiamo bisogno di fare il circolo." 'He's out. It is the devil, Moloch. The Corrupter. He walks again. He is out in the world, doing such bad things. More and more people have fallen under his mesmerizing power. There is still time to bind him. We must form the circle.'

The monks gathered around him as he opened a large book. The pages of the book were blank.

"Per potere di questo circolo di Kayless..." 'By the power of the circle of Kayless...'

Moloch smiled as he straightened up and let Carlo's body fall. His expression changed when he realized something was wrong, and he looked up. He let out a surprised, "No!"

"Per potere di questo circolo di Kayless, ti commando! Vieni!" 'By the power of the circle of Kayless, I command you! Come!'

Moloch screamed even more loudly in terror.

"VIENI!" 'COME!'

Moloch continued to scream. He suddenly burst into millions of tiny particles. The particles fell into the book.

"Vieni, demonio! Vieni!" 'Come, demon! Come!'

As the particles fell into the book, an ancient script appeared. When the pages were filled, Thenlonius closed the book. He stepped over to a table and put the book into a heavy wooden box. "Preghiamo che questo libro è mai letto più..." 'Pray that this accursed book is never again read...' He put the book in a box. "Che il demonio Molocco è mai lasciato più fuori nel mondo." 'Lest the Demon Moloch be loosed upon the world.' He put the lid on the box.

Back in 1997, the lid was lifted off the box by Buffy. She looked in. "Oh, great! A book!" She stated sarcastically.

A book-scanning project was going on in the library. Willow ans a few other computer science students were seated at a table, scanning books into the library's computer system.

Buffy pulled the book out of the box and blew some of the dust off of it.

"Oh, uh, I, uh... haven't gone through the new arrivals. Uh, put it in, uh-" Giles pointed with his book. "In, in that pile."

"Here, I'll get it," a student named Dave offered. He got up from his computer.

"Oh, thanks, Dave. The Willow pile," Buffy told him.

Dave took the book from Buffy and went over to the pile of books next to Willow.

"Uh, when I've examined it, you can, uh, uh, skim it."

Ms. Calendar smirked. She had told him she would bring a class in some day. "Scan it, Rupert. That's scan it."

Giles gave her a sarcastic look. "Of course." That seemed to be the day where Ms. Calendar seemed to want to really bug him. Publicly.

"Oh, I know, our ways are strange to you, but soon you will join us in the 20th century. With three whole years to spare!" She grinned.

"Jenny, I'm sure your computer science class is fascinating, but I happen to believe that one can survive in modern society without being a slave to the, um, idiot box."

Ms. Calendar got annoyed. "That's TV. The idiot box is TV. This-" She indicated to a computer. "Is the _good_ box!"

"I still prefer a good book."

Ms. Calendar was going to reply with, 'I know you do.' But one of her students butted into the conversation.

Fritz spoke self-righteously, "The printed page is obsolete." He stood up. "Information isn't bound up anymore. It's an entity. The only reality is virtual. If you're not jacked in, you're not alive." He grabbed his books and left.

"Thank you, Fritz, for making us all sound like crazy people." Now Ms. Calendar knew there was practically no way she'd convert Giles after that. She tried anyway, though, " Fritz, Fritz comes on a little strong, but he does have a point. You know, for the last two years more e-mail was sent than regular mail."

"Oh..."

"More digitized information went across phone lines than conversation."

"That is a fact that I regard with genuine horror."

Ms. Calendar teased, "I'll bet it is." She addressed her students, "Alright, guys, let's wrap it up for today."

"I've just got a few more. I'll hang for a bit," Willow stated.

"Cool! Thanks."

Xander grabbed his bag and pulled it onto his shoulder.

"Xander, you wanna stay and help me?" Willow asked.

Xander was in disbelief. "Are you kidding?"

Willow was taken aback. "Yes, it was a joke I made up."

"Willow, I love you, but bye!" Xander left.

"See you tomorrow!" Willow called after him.

Xander ignored her. "Buffy, wait up!"

"I'm, I'm just gonna stay and clean up a little. I'll, uh, I'll be back in the middle ages." Giles started up the stairs.

"Did you ever leave?"

Giles stopped and looked back at her. She smiled to herself, pleased with his reaction to her comment. He continued up the stairs.

A bit later, Willow was in the library alone, scanning the last book. She drew the scanner over two pages, and they appeared on the monitor. As she typed to save the scan, the script in the book disappeared. Willow closed the book, put it in the pile with the others and left. The computer monitor went blank and Moloch's words appeared: Where am I?

Later that day, Giles and Ms. Calendar walked down the steps from the school together.

"You have a, very, u-um...i-i-interesting class, to say the least. I didn't think you'd actually bring them in..."

"I said I would, didn't I?" Ms. Calendar asked. "Never underestimate me."

"Duly noted."

In the hall the next week, Buffy ran to catch up with Willow as she slowly walked along.

"Willow! Willow, hey, wait up!" She finally reached her.

"Oh, Buffy, I didn't even see you."

"Or hear me. What was up last night? I tried your line, like, a million times."

"Oh, I was, I was talking."

"Talking to...? Okay, that's it, you have a secret, and that's not allowed."

"Why not?" Willow opened her locker.

"'Cause... there's a rule."

"Well, I sort of met someone." Willow smiled.

Buffy got excited. "I knew it! This is so important! When did you meet?"

"Last week after we did the scanning project in the library." She closed her locker.

"Does he go here? What's his name? Have you kissed him? What's he like?" Buffy was curious.

Willow was amused. "No, Malcolm, no, and very nice."

Buffy got annoyed, "You are a thing of evil for not telling me this right away!"

"Well, I wasn't sure there was anything to tell. But last night, oh! We talked all night, it was amazing. He's so smart, Buffy, and, and he's romantic, and we agree about everything!"

Buffy sighed. "What's he look like?"

"I don't know!" Willow continued down the hall with a big smile on her face. Buffy was confused and stared after her a moment, then started to follow.

In Ms. Calendar's class, Fritz and Dave were there, typing away.

"Yes, I will. I promise." Dave told the monitor.

Willow and Buffy entered.

"So, you've been seeing a guy, and you don't know what he looks like? Okay, this is a puzzle. No, wait, I'm good at these. Does it involve a midget and a block of ice?" Buffy asked.

"I met him online."

Willow indicated a computer.

"Oh!"

Ms. Calendar strode quickly into the room wearing dark glasses and holding a mug of coffee in one hand and her books in the other. "Morning, kids!"

Buffy turned to look at her.

Ms. Calendar noticed her as she headed to her desk. She sat her mug down. "Buffy, are you supposed to be somewhere?" _Like class, or with Rupert, or whatever._ She took off her glasses.

"No, I have a free."

"Cool! But this is lab time, so let's make it a nice, short visit, okay?"

"Sure."

"You have mail," Willow's computer stated.

"It's him!" Willow typed to get the message. The message read, 'I'm thinking of you.' "He's so sweet!"

Buffy nodded. "He's a sweetie." She smiled nervously.

"What should I write back?" Willow asked.

"Uh, Willow," Buffy began cautiously. "I think it's really great that you have this cool pen pal, but don't you think you're kinda rushing all into this? Y'know what I mean?"

Willow came up with an answer to her own question excitedly, "'I'm thinking of you, too!'" Then she was crestfallen. "No, that's incredibly stupid!"

"Will, down girl! Let's focus here, okay? What do you actually know about this guy?"

Willow was disappointed. "Oh, see, I knew you'd react like this."

"Like what?"

Little did they know, the computer was video taping them.

"I just wanna make sure you're careful, that's all," Buffy told her.

The video zoomed in on Buffy.

In an office, the computer on the desk suddenly came on. The student records scrolled by. It stopped on Buffy's and expanded it.

In Ms. Calendar's class, the record popped up on Fritz's computer. Fritz studies the record and then the monitor went black. A message appeared. 'Watch her.'

"His name is Malcolm Black, he's eighteen, he lives in Elmwood, which is about eighty miles from here, and he likes me!" Willow told Buffy.

"Short, tall, skinny, fat?"

"Why does everything have to be about looks?"

"Not everything, but some stuff is. I mean, what if you guys get really, really intense, and then you find out that he... has... a hairy back?"

"Well, no! Uh, he doesn't talk like somebody who would have a hairy back. And anyways, that stuff doesn't matter when you really care about each other. Maybe I'm not his ideal either."

"Hey, I'm just trying to make sure that he's good enough for you. I think it's great that you met someone."

Ms. Calendar got up from her desk holding some papers and went over to Fritz. "Hey, Fritz... I'm, uh, lookin' at the logs. You and Dave are clockin' a pretty scary amount of computer time."

"New project," he told her.

"Ooo, will I be excited?"

"You'll die."

And with that, Ms. Calendar was convinced something fishy was going on. She did a little happy dance on the inside, knowing this was her chance to prove that computers could, indeed save the day. She went back to her desk and began looking up anything that would be of particular interest on her computer.

Outside on the steps of the quad, a boy was sitting on them, reviewing his report on his laptop. He quickly got upset. "This isn't my report! 'Nazi Germany was a model of a well ordered society'? I didn't write that! Who's been in my files?"

Willow came down the steps next to him. She was off in her own world and didn't notice Xander coming from her right. He put his hand over her eyes and she was forced to stop, nearly losing her balance.

"Hup, guess who?"

"Uh, Xander?"

"Yeah, but keep guessing anyway."

"Xander."

Xander took his hand from her eyes. "Oh, I can't fool ya, you see right through my petty charade. We goin' to the Bronze tonight?"

Willow smiled. "Not me, I think I'm gonna call it an early night."

"Oh, Malcolm, right?"

Willow smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, I heard. But you're gonna be missin' out. I'm plannin' to be witty. I'm gonna make fun of all the people who won't talk to me."

"That's nice. Have a good time!" She smiled and quickly left.

Xander watched her go.

Buffy arrived and watched her go, too. "She certainly looks perky."

"Yeah, color in the cheeks, bounce in the step... I don't like it. It's not healthy." Xander faced her. "So, are you goin' to the Bronze tonight? Oh, probably not, you probably have some vampire slaying or some lame endeavor like that, don't you? Everyone deserts me."

They began to walk.

"Check out the jealous man!" Buffy said.

"What are you talking about?"

"You're jealous."

"Of what?"

"Willow's got a thang, and Xander's left hanging."

"Oh, that's meaningless drivel. I'm not interested in Willow like that."

"Yeah, but you got used to being the Belle of the Ball."

"No, it's just... this Malcolm guy? What's his deal? I mean, tell me you're not slightly wigged."

"Okay, slightly. I mean, just not knowing what he's really like."

"You are."

"Okay, but I can also say that I'm an elderly Dutch woman. Get me? I mean, who's to say I'm not if I'm in the elderly Dutch chat room?"

At first, Buffy was making light, "I get your point!" Then she actually got it. "I get your point. Oh, this guy could be anybody. He could be weird, or crazy, or old, or... He could be a circus freak." She started panicking. "He's probably a circus freak!"

"Yeah. I mean, we read about it all the time. Y'know, people meet on the 'Net, they talk, they get together, have dinner, a show, horrible ax murder."

"Willow ax murdered by a circus freak... Okay, okay, what do we do?" She realized her paranoia. "What are we doing? Xander, you get me started! We are totally overreacting!"

"But it's fun, isn't it?"

In Ms. Calendar's classroom, Fitz was staring at stuff scrolling by on the monitor. "I'm jacked in. I'm jacked in. I'm jacked in." He was carving an 'M' into his arm. "I'm jacked in."

The next day in the girl's locker room, two girls exited while Willow suddendly barged in.

"Whoa! You're the Late Girl," Buffy stated.

"I overslept."

"Till fifth period? Talkin' to Malcolm last night?"

"Yeah." She saw Buffy's look. "What?"

"Nothing."

"You're having an expression."

"I'm not. But if I was, it'd be saying, 'This just isn't like you.'"

"Not like me to have a boyfriend?"

"He's boyfriendly?"

Willow was confused. "I don't understand why you don't want me to have this. I mean, boys don't chase me around all the time. I thought you'd be happy for me."

Buffy was concerned. "I just want you to be sure. To meet him face to face. In daylight, in a crowded place with some friends. Y'know, before you become all... obsessive."

"Malcolm and I really care about each other. Big deal if I blow off a couple classes."

"I thought you said you overslept."

"Malcolm said you wouldn't understand."

"Malcolm was right."

Later, Buffy entered Ms. Calendar's classroom. She saw Dave and went over to him. "Dave?" He was oblivious. "Hey there, Dave. Anybody home?"

Dave jumped in his seat when she put a hand on his shoulder. "Oh, what do you want?"

"I wanted to ask you something if you have a minute."

"What is it?"

"Well, you're a computer geek... genius, and, uh, I sort of have a technical problem. If I wanted to find out something about someone, i-if someone e-mailed me, could I trace the letter?"

"Well, you could pull up somebody's profile based on their username."

"But they write the profile themselves, right? And so they could say anything they wanted."

"True."

"Wow! I had knowledge!"

Dave smiled.

"Well, is there a way to find out exactly where a letter, an e-letter came from? I mean, the actual location of the computer?" Buffy had a feeling she should have been asking Ms. Calendar instead, but she had a feeling Ms. Calendar had already went home.

Dave considered. "That's a challenge."

"'Cause, you see, Willow's got this boyfriend, Malcolm, and to tell you the truth, I think..."

Dave interrupted, annoyed, "Leave Willow alone."

"What do you mean?"

"That's none of your business," Dave insisted.

Buffy jumped to a conclusion, "Dave, are you Malcolm?"

Dave turned back to the computer. "Of course not." He typed.

"Dave, what's going on?"

"Look, I'll talk to you later, okay? I've got work to do."

Buffy got up and left. She sighed. "So do I."

Fritz watched her go as she passed him.

Buffy charged into the library. "Agh!"

"Buffy?" Giles asked.

"I'm going to use my first out of three guesses to ask if Ms. Calendar's gone home?"

"Y-Yes, I believe she has."

"And when I could actually use her help, too." Buffy shrugged. "I guess I'll have to tell you, then." She filled him in on all that had been going on.

Giles didn't seem to think it was that big of a deal. He went to attend to his books.

Buffy followed him. "I'm telling you, something is going on. It's not just Willow. Dave, Fritz, they're all wicked jumpy."

"Those boys aren't sparklingly normal as it is." Unable to concentrate, he turned and went back down the stairs.

Again, Buffy was on his tail. "Giles, trust me."

"I-I do! I-I-I really don't know how to advise you. Things involved with a computer fill me with a childlike terror. Now, if it were a nice ogre or some such I'd be more in my element. Well, I-I suppose you could, um, tail Dave, see if he's up to something."

Buffy sighed. "And this is where Ms. Calendar would come in handy. But I'll go. I'll wear dark glasses and a trench coat if I have to. I can work this out myself. No need to bother Ms. Calendar unless I'm absolutely sure she's needed, right?"

Outside, after school, Dave got into his car, started it, and drove off. Buffy was wearing dark glasses and a dark coat as she watched him go.

Dave drove up to the loading dock in the back of a CRD building. Buffy was looking in from the fence. She saw Dave go up to a technician and start talking to him. A security camera turned towards Buffy. The feed was sent to Fritz' computer. He saw the camera's close-up on Buffy.

"She's too close," he stated. "What do I do?"

The screen blacked out, and a message appeared, 'Kill her.'

Fritz smirked. "Party."


	2. Chapter 2

The next afternoon, Buffy and Xander were with Giles in the library.

Buffy was sitting on the study table. "Whatever Dave is into, it's large."

"What was the name of this place?" Giles asked.

"It said CRD. But, I couldn't get close enough to see what it was."

"Calax Research and Development," Xander stated. "It's a computer research lab. Third largest employer in Sunnydale till it closed down last year." The others stared. "What, I can't have information sometimes?"

"Well, it-it's just somewhat unprecedented," Giles stated.

"Well, my uncle used to work there. I-in a floor sweeping capacity."

"But it closed?" Buffy asked.

"Uh-huh."

"Looked pretty functional from where I stood. I don't have a clue what they were doing."

"And what do they need Dave for?" Xander asked.

"Something about computers, right? I mean, he is off-the-chart smart."

"We still don't know an enormous amount," Giles said. "Whatever is going on there may be on the up-and-up."

"No, if CRD opened, it would've been on the news," Xander replied.

"Besides, I can just tell something's wrong. My spider sense is tingling," Buffy stated.

"Your... spider sense?" Giles asked.

"Pop culture reference. Sorry."

"Yes, well, ahem, I think we're still at a stand still. Uh, uh, short of breaking into the place, I don't see..."

"Breaking in!" Buffy slid off of the table. "Then this is the plan!"

"I'm free tonight!" Xander replied eagerly.

"Tonight it is!" Buffy walked over to Xander.

Giles tried dampening their excitement and bring them to logical terms, "A moment, please, of quiet reflection. I do not suggest that you illegally enter the..."

Ms. Calendar walked into the library.

"...Data into the file so the book will be listed by title as well as by author." Giles wasn't about to let her know something strange was going on involving computers. There would only be two possible outcomes - her hitting him for not thinking computers could be affected by the supernatural, or her being overly eager to help, thus proving her theory right. He wasn't ready for either.

"I just came by to check your new data base, make sure your cross reference table isn't glitching. 'Cause I'm guessing you haven't gone anywhere near it," Ms. Calendar stated. She was going to wait until Giles admitted that he needed her help. She wouldn't pass up hearing that for anything.

"Uh, I'm still sorting through the chaos you left behind you."

"Hmm."

In Ms. Calendar's classroom, Willow was chatting online with Malcolm.

"I've never felt this way about anyone before, Willow." The computer spoke his typed words.

"I know what you mean. I feel like you know me better than anyone." Willow spoke as she typed.

"I do."

"Do you think we should... meet?"

"I think we should soon."

"I'm nervous."

"I'm not. Isn't that strange?"

"That's what Buffy doesn't understand, how comfortable you can make me feel."

"Buffy just makes trouble. That's why she got kicked out of her old school."

Willow was puzzled and paused for a moment.

"We'll be going now." Buffy could practically feel the tension that was vibrating off of Giles and Ms. Calendar. She slung an arm around Xander's shoulders and lead him out of the library.

"How did you know that?" Willow asked her chat buddy.

"It's on her permanent record."

Willow didn't respond, still puzzled.

"You must have mentioned it."

Willow wasn't so sure. "I guess."

"Let's not worry about her anymore."

"I have to sign off. I'll talk to you later."

"Don't."

"Bye." Willow turned off the monitor, got up, and left.

In the library, Giles and Ms. Calendar were arguing.

"I'm starting to think you need a _serious_ 'Readers Anonymous' meeting."

"Same could be said about you with your fancy schmancy computers. Besides, there is no such thing as 'Readers Anonymous'."

"You're a snob!" Ms. Calendar was exasperated.

Giles bolted into a standing position from where he was crouching, examining books. "I am no such thing," he replied incredulously.

"Oh, you are a _big_ snob. You, you think that knowledge should be kept in these carefully guarded repositories where only a handful of white guys can get at it."

"Nonsense! I simply don't adhere to a, a knee-jerk assumption that because something is new, it's better."

"This isn't a fad, Rupert! We are creating a new society here."

"A society in which human interaction is all but obsolete? In which people can be completely manipulated by technology, well, well... Thank you, I'll pass."

"Well, ahem, I think you'll be very happy here with your musty, old books." She opened the book Moloch had once been trapped in.

"These musty old books have a great deal more to say than in any of your... fabulous web pages."

"Hmm." She flipped through the pages. "This one doesn't have a whole lot more to say."

Giles stared at the blank book.

"What is it, like a diary?"

"How odd. I haven't looked through all the volumes yet, I didn't, um..." He closed the book and saw the etching of Moloch on the cover.

"What is it?"

Giles was puzzled. "Uh, nothing, um, a, a diary, yes. I imagine that's what it is."

Ms. Calendar knew he was trying to hide something, now. That was fine. She would wait. She knew she would be damn useful this time, and he would just have to admit it.

Giles paused to think. "Well, it's been so nice talking to you." He began walking towards his office.

"We were fighting."

Giles was too absorbed in his thoughts. "Must do it again sometime, yes... Bye, now."

Ms. Calendar watched him disappear into his office.

Outside, after school, it was apparent that everyone seemed to be having computer issues.

The school nurse was frantic as she quickly walked along with a man. "I checked the computer, and there's nothing in his file about being allergic to penicillin!"

Buffy walked out of the school.

Dave went up to her. "Buffy!"

"Dave! How're you doing?"

"Okay. Uh, look, I'm sorry about yesterday. I haven't been getting much sleep lately, y'know?"

"Don't sweat it."

"Willow was looking for you," Dave told her awkwardly.

"Good, I need to talk to her. Do you know where she is?"

"She said she'd be in the, in the girls' locker room."

"Great. Thanks." She looked at him for a moment, then went to find Willow. She had no idea she was about to walk into a trap.

Dave watched her go.

The girl's locker room was deserted when Buffy entered. She slowly walked down the aisle and into a row of lockers. "Will?" She walked further. "Willow?"

Fritz was lurking in the showers. He turned the water on and left.

"Will? You taking a shower?" She went to the shower and saw that it was on, but no one was there. "I guess not."

There was an electrical cord on the corner of the floor in the shower that came from a light above. Curtesy of Fritz.

Buffy walked into the shower to turn off the water. "This is how droughts get started." She turned the water off.

The water on the tiled flooring creeped toward the exposed wires.

"Buffy! Get out!" It was Dave.

Buffy turned to him and noticed the wires. They began to spark. An arc of electricity jolted her, causing her to fly out of the shower. She landed hard on a changing bench and rolled off onto the floor.

Dave ran from the locker room.

Buffy sat up and looked over toward the showers. The soles of her shoes were smoking.

Ms. Calendar's class was dark. Dave entered and turned a computer on. "I can't do it! I'm not gonna do it."

"But you promised," Moloch replied.

Dave was desperate, "Buffy isn't a threat to you! Stop with it."

"The project is almost complete. You won't have to do it again."

Dave dropped his bag and whimpered. "Oh, I can't!"

"I've shown you a new world, Dave. Knowledge, power... I can give you everything. All I want is your love."

"No. This isn't right. None of it is."

The note pad came up on the monitor and Moloch wrote a note:

I'm sorry. I've been a terrible person.

I'm a coward, and I can't go on living like this.

Forgive me, Mom and Dad. At least now I'll

have some peace. Remember me.

Love, Dave.

Dave backed away from the computer. Fritz was waiting behind him by the window.

In the library, Buffy sat at the table while Xander paced.

"I'm gonna kill Dave!"

"He tried to warn me," Buffy told him.

"Warn you that he set you up?" He asked Giles, "Is she gonna be okay?"

"She was only grounded for a moment." He sat and handed Buffy a mug. "Still, if you'd been anyone but the Slayer..."

"Tell me the truth: how's my hair?" Buffy asked. Her hair was frazzled from the electricity.

"It's great! It's your best hair ever!" Xander smiled.

"Uh, oh, yes," Giles played along.

"I just... I don't understand what would make Dave do a thing like that."

"I think perhaps I do," Giles stated. He went over to get Moloch's book from the book cage. He came back holding it up. "Does this look familiar to either of you?"

"Yeah, sure. Looks like a book," Buffy stated.

"I knew that one," Xander pitched in.

Giles sat it on the table. "In the dark ages the souls of demons were sometimes trapped in certain volumes. They remained locked within the book, harmless, unless the pages were read aloud. Unless I'm mistaken, this is Moloch, the Corrupter. A very deadly and seductive demon. He draws people to him with promises of love, power, knowledge. Preys on impressionable minds."

"Like Dave's," Xander stated.

"And Moloch is inside that book?" Buffy asked.

"Not anymore." Giles opened the book.

"You released Moloch?" Xander asked.

"Way to go!"

"I didn't read it! That dreadful Calendar woman found it and, and it was already blank."

"'Dreadful Calendar woman', huh? I knew that tension was thick enough to cut with a knife. Guess I pulled Xander out of here at a good time." Buffy noticed Giles glaring at her. "Off topic, right...Okay, so a powerful demon with horns is walking around Sunnydale, and nobody's noticed?" Buffy asked.

"I-if he's so big and strong, why bother with Dave? I mean, why didn't he just attack Buffy himself?" Xander added.

"I don't know. And I don't know who could've read that book. It wasn't even in English," Giles answered.

"Where was it?" Buffy asked thoughtfully.

"Uh, in a pile with others that were, um, uh, scanned."

Giles and Buffy looked over at a nearby computer. 

"And that released the demon?" Xander asked.

"No, he's not out here." Buffy pointed to the computer. "He's in there."

"The scanner read the book. It brought Moloch out as information to be absorbed," Giles stated.

"He's gone binary on us."

"Okay, for those of us in our studio audience, who are me? You guys are saying that Moloch is in this computer?" Xander asked.

"And every computer connected to it by a modem," Buffy added.

"He's everywhere," Giles replied.

"What are we gonna do?" Xander asked.

"Willow scanned him into her file. It may be... a futile gesture, but I suggest we, um, uh, delete it."

"Solid!" Buffy walked over to the computer.

"Don't get too close," Xander warned.

Buffy sat down in front of it. "Okay. Okay." She turned the monitor on. "So which file do you think it is? Willow?" She typed. "That's probably it, right? I'll just delete the whole thing." She drug the file icon to the trash bin, and inhaled in fright when Moloch's demonic face appeared on the monitor.

"Stay away from Willow! It is none of your business!"

The monitor returned to normal.

"So that's what Malcolm looks like," Buffy stated.


	3. Chapter 3

"So much for delete file," Buffy stated.

"This is very bad," Giles stated.

"Are we overreacting? He's in a computer! What can he do?" Xander asked.

"You mean besides convince a perfectly nice kid to try and kill me? I don't know. How about mess up all the medical equipment in the world?"

"Randomize traffic signals," Giles added.

"Access launch codes for our nuclear missiles."

"Destroy the world's economy."

"I think I pretty much capped it with that nuclear missile thing."

"Right, yours was best." Giles wasn't about to get into another argument.

"Okay, he's a threat, I'm on board with that now. But what can we do about it?" Xander asked.

"I think the first thing we do is find Willow," Buffy answered. "She's probably talking to him right now. God, that creeps me out!"

"What does he want with Willow?"

"Let's never find out." Buffy got up. "Okay, I'm gonna check Ms. Calendar's class, and you guys call her home."

Later, Buffy entered Ms. Calendar's classroom and looked around. "Willow?" Now that she thought of it, she considered talking to Ms. Calendar about locking the classroom after hours.

The computers suddenly all turned on, startling her. Buffy backed further into the room while looking around more. She turned around and jumped as she bumped into Dave. He was hanging from the ceiling with a note pinned to his shirt.

In the library, Xander was on the phone trying to reach Willow. He gave up. "No answer."

"Damn it!" Giles cursed.

Xander hung up. "Well, it wasn't busy either, so she's not online."

Buffy came back into the library.

"What did you find?" Giles asked.

Xander worried. "Willow isn't..."

"Dave. He's dead," Buffy stated.

"How?" Giles asked.

"Well, it _looks_ like suicide."

"With a little help from my friends?" Xander asked.

"I'd guess Fritz. Or the other zomboids from CRD. Okay-" She spoke to Xander. "You and I are gonna go to Willow's house. Giles, you need to come up with a way to get Moloch out of the 'Net."

"I, I have records of the ceremonies, but, but that's for a creature of the flesh. Th-this could be something completely different."

"Then get Ms. Calendar. She can help you."

"Well, I'm sure she could, but how am I gonna convince her of all people that there's a demon on the Internet?"

"Okay, fine, then you can stay here and come up with a better plan." She turned to Xander. "C'mon."

Willow was returning home. She unlocked the front door and went inside. "Mom? Dad?" There was no answer. She shut the door and went to her room. She turned on her lamp, dropped her book bag on the bed and opened it.

'You have mail,' her computer informed her.

Willow looked at it. The mail icon was active. She went over to her desk, logged on, clicked on the icon, and opened the new message folder.

The message read, 'No more waiting. I need you to see me.'

Willow turned off her monitor and went back to her bag.

The monitor came back on by itself.

'You have mail.'

Willow stared at it in disbelief. The doorbell rang, and after another look at her computer, she went to answer it. "Dad, did you forget your keys again?" She opened the door, but no one was there. She turned to go back in. As she started to close the door behind her, Fritz reached around her head with a cloth splashed with chloroform. After a brief struggle, Willow lost consciousness.

"No more waiting."

In the library office, Giles was researching and listening to the radio.

"A spokesman for the archbishop denied the allegations, blaming computer error for the apparent financial discrepancy," the reporter on the radio stated.

"Binding rituals..." Giles murmured.

"In Washington D.C., the FBI today reported that all of its serial killer profiles have been mysteriously downloaded from its central computer."

Ms. Calendar knocked on the door and opened it slowly. "Hi. I got your message. What's so urgent?" She was playing dumb for the moment. She knew what she was waiting for would come up soon.

Giles turned off the radio and stood up. "Um, thank you for coming. Uh, I need your help." He laughed nervously. "But before that, um, I need you to believe something that, um, you may not want to. Uh, there's, uh...something's got into the, um... i-i-inside, um..." He took a breath and let it out. "There's a demon in the Internet."

"I know."

Giles was surprised to hear that.

Buffy and Xander arrived at Willow's house to find the door open.

"Willow?" Buffy called.

They moved inside.

"This isn't good," Xander stated.

"Willow?"

They went to Willow's room.

"Willow?"

They walked into her room to see that Willow wasn't there.

"Okay, any thoughts?" Xander asked.

Buffy looked around and saw the message on the computer. She read it aloud, "'No more waiting, I need you to see me'?" She paused. "See him how? Where?" she asked Xander.

"What about CRD?"

"The research place?"

"I'm guessing that's Moloch central."

"Guessing that's our best lead. Let's just hope Giles can back us up."

They left.

In the library office, Giles unfolded his arms and moved away from the table. "You already know? How exactly is that?"

"Come on, there've been portents for days. I mean, power surges, online shutdowns... You should see the bones I've been casting. I _knew_ this would happen sooner or later. I mean, it's probably a, a mischief demon, y'know, like Kelkor, or..."

"It's Moloch."

"The Corrupter? Oh, boy." She sighed. "I shoulda remembered, I just don't..."

"Uh... You don't seem exactly surprised by... Who are you? Well...not who...what are you?"

"I teach computer science at the local high school."

"A profession that hardly lends itself to the casting of bones. I mean, you've helped out a lot, and I never bothered to ask..."

Ms. Calendar got exasperated. "Wrong and wrong, snobby. You think the realm of the mystical is limited to ancient texts and relics? That bad old science made the magic go away? Mm. The divine exists in cyberspace same as out here."

"Are you a witch?"

"Mm. I don't have that kind of power. 'Techno-pagan' is the term."

Giles let out a chuckle.

"There are more of us than you think."

"Well, uh, you can definitely help me, 'techno-pagan'." He grabbed Moloch's book. "Um...What's in cyberspace at the moment is less than divine."

They went out into the main area.

Ms. Calendar smirked.

"What?" Giles asked.

"You caved."

"Excuse me?"

"You totally caved. I've just been waiting for you to admit that you needed my help."

"Well..." Giles had no reply. "I have the binding rituals at hand, but I'm completely out of my idiom."

"Well, I can help! I think... I hope, I mean, well -" She sat at the main computer. "This is my first real...involving a computer...Do you know how he got in?"

"He was, uh, 'scanned' is the term, I believe."

"Yes. And you want him back in the book?" Ms. Calendar asked.

The phone rang and Giles went to get it. "Buffy!"

Buffy was on a pay phone outside CRD. "Yeah."

"Willow?"

"Not at home. It looks like she was taken somewhere."

"Where are you?"

"CRD. Whatever Moloch wants Willow for, it's probably in there."

"Jenny and I are, uh, working to get Moloch offline."

"Here's a tip: hurry!" Buffy hung up.

In a dark lab inside the CRD, Willow was lying on a table unconscious. Moments later, she awoke. She looked around and saw Fritz standing there with a technician, and beyond them, a computer monitor.

"Welcome, my love," stated the glowing red computer monitor.

Willow's eyes widened.

"I can't tell you how good it is to see you..."

Willow was terrified.

A metal hand slapped down on the monitor. A robot body had been built for Moloch.

"...With my own two eyes."

Willow breathed hard, very afraid.


	4. Chapter 4

Willow was terrified in the lab at CRD.

"Willow."

"Malcolm," Willow whispered.

Fritz and the technician came to her and took her by the arms.

Moloch slowly approached. "This world is so new, so exciting. I can see all of it. Everything flows through me. I know the secrets of your kings. But nothing compares to having form again. To be able to walk." He put his hand on Fritz' head. "To touch." He snapped Fritz' neck. "To kill."

Willow watched Fritz' dead body fall. She looked back up at Moloch.

Outside, Buffy landed on the CRD side of a fence. Xander yelled as he fell after climbing over the top. Buffy helped him up.

"Back way?" Xander asked.

"Back way."

They headed for the rear entrance, Xander limping badly.

Buffy kicked a door open and walked in determinedly.

"Here they come," Moloch stated in the lab.

In the library, Ms. Calendar was lighting candles. "The first thing we have to do is form the circle of Kayless. Right?"

"Form a circle? But there's only two of us. That's really more of a line."

"You're not getting it, Rupert. We have to form the circle inside." She sat at the computer. "I'm putting out a flash. I just hope enough of my group responds."

"Won't Moloch just shut you down?"

"Well, I'm betting he won't figure out what we're doing until it's too late."

"Hoping and betting, that's what we've got."

"You wanna throw in praying? Be my guest."

At the lab in CRD.

"I don't understand. What do you want from me?" Willow asked.

"I want to give you the world."

"Why?" Willow asked suspiciously.

"You created me. I brought these humans together to build me a body. But _you_ gave me life. Took me out of the book that held me. I want to repay you."

"By lying to me? By pretending to be a person? Pretending you loved me?"

"I do!"

In the lobby, Buffy and Xander walked up to the guard. He got up to stop them, but Buffy punched him out and continued on.

Xander noticed the guard's monitor. "Uh, Buffy!"

She came back to look. "It's her!"

"Yeah, who's the other guy?"

In the lab.

"Don't you see?" Moloch asked. "I can give you everything! I can control the world! Right now a man in Beijing is transferring money to a Swiss bank account for a contract on his mother's life. Good for him!"

In a hall, Buffy and Xander pushed doors open.

Buffy found the door to the lab and tried forcing it open. "I can't bust it. It's heavy steel."

"Then let's find another way in." He started toward the next set of doors when an alarm went off and red lights flashed. Xander jumped to the door to try it. It was locked. He went back. "What's goin' on?"

Buffy spied a security camera. "Building's security system is computerized."

"Whoops!"

A gas began to spray into the hall.

In the library.

"Almost there," Ms. Calendar stated.

Giles leaned closer to watch. "Couldn't you just stop Moloch by, by entering some computer virus?"

"You've seen way too many movies. Funny - 'cause you're stuck in the dark ages. Okay! We're up. You read, I type. Ready?"

"Uh, I am." Giles straightened up, text in hand. "By the power of the divine, by the essence of the word, I command you..."

In the hall at CRD, Buffy and Xander pounded on doors. Xander began coughing.

In the lab.

"Let me leave?" Willow asked.

"But I love you!"

"Don't say that! That's a joke! You don't love anything!"

"You are mine!"

"I'm not yours! I'm never gonna be yours! Never!"

Moloch lowered his head and considered for a moment while Willow just watched and waited. He raised his head again. "Pity."

In the library, Giles was still reading, Ms. Calendar typing.

"By the power of the circle of Kayless, I command you..." Giles glanced at her typing. "Kayless, with a 'K'."

In the hall of CRD, Xander slid down the wall to the floor, almost unconscious. Buffy was still weakly hitting the door.

In the lab, Moloch had Willow cornered. He reached up and put his hand on her head. "I'll miss you."

Willow screamed.

"Demon, come!" Giles barked in the library.

In the lab, Moloch screamed and lifted his arms in pain, letting go of Willow. He began to writhe.

"I command you!" Giles shouted.

Buffy came through the door to the lab with Xander close behind. She leapt into a jumping side kick, making a dull thud when she connected with Moloch's chest. He only staggered a bit, and she just fell to the floor.

"Ow... Guy's made of metal!"

The technician grabbed Xander from behind and pulled him away.

Buffy quickly got up and looked at Willow while Moloch continued to writhe in pain.

"No! I won't go back!" Moloch howled.

Buffy grabbed Willow's hand and they ran out of the lab.

"Demon, COME!" Giles bellowed.

Ms. Calendar wondered if he realized his voice was getting increasingly louder with each passage he read.

In the lab, Moloch continued to scream.

In the library, the computer sparked several times.

Ms. Calendar jumped. "Woah!"

In the lab, Xander pushed the technician back into a wall, turned around, and punched him out. He quickly followed the girls out. "Hey! I got to hit someone!"

Moloch fell to his knees.

In the library, wind was blowing heavily and the computer monitor was flashing.

Moloch screamed loudly in the lab.

In the library, Giles and Ms. Calendar watched the monitor flicker, squinting their eyes against the light as they did so.

In the lab, Moloch's screams died out.

In the library, the computer monitor stopped flashing. Smoke was coming out from the back of it.

"He's out of the 'Net. He's bound," Ms. Calendar stated.

Giles went over to the book, picked it up, and opened it to look. "He's not in the book."

Ms. Calendar got up and looked at it as well. "He's not in the book. Well, where is he?" She mentally kicked herself. Failure - what a way to impress someone.

In the lab, Moloch slowly raised his head.

In the hall, Buffy and Willow opened a set of doors and saw a guard and two technicians running toward them. They pushed the doors closed.

"Let's go this way!" Xander began to run the other way.

"Wait!" Buffy called after him.

Xander was still limping heavily. Suddenly, Moloch crashed through the wall between them. He looked at Xander and backhanded him in the face. Xander fell to the floor, unconscious. Moloch turned and advanced on the girls. He started to swing at Buffy, and she tried blocking the hit, but he didn't budge, just pushed her aside and into the wall. Buffy slid to the floor, a bit dazed.

Moloch was angry. "I was omnipotent. I was everything! Now I'm trapped in this shell!" He reached out to grab Buffy by the head.

"Malcolm!"

Moloch turned to the voice, only to see that Willow was armed with a fire extinguisher.

"Remember me, your girlfriend?" She pounded the extinguisher into his chest hard enough to make him bend back. "Well, I think it's time we break up!" She hit him again even harder. "Or maybe we can still be friends!" She tried again for his face, but that time he grabbed the extinguisher from her and threw it down. He grabbed her and shoved her down the hall into Xander, who was just starting to get up. They both crashed to the floor. Buffy had recovered from her daze and got up to face Moloch. He turned his attention to her.

"This body's all I have left. But it's enough to crush you!" Moloch was confident.

Buffy looked around for a way to deal with him. She noticed a power junction box on the wall. She faced him again and eased her way in front of the box. "Take your best shot."

Moloch reared back for a punch and swung. Buffy ducked away, and he punched right into the electrical box. It shorted out, and Moloch was enveloped by high voltage electricity. Buffy ran over to Willow and Xander and crouched down to protect them. Moloch's circuitry overloaded, and his body exploded. His head landed right in front of them.

At school the next day, Ms. Calendar was standing at the desk of her classroom, typing on her computer. Giles entered, cleared his throat, and knocked on the open door. She turned to see who was there. She smiled.

"Well, look who's here! Welcome to my world." She crossed her arms. "You scared?" She teased.

"I'm remaining calm, thank you. Uh, I just wanted to, uh, return this." He held up a corkscrew earring. "I found it among the new books, and naturally I thought of you."

Ms. Calendar mocked surprise, "Me? Not Buffy or Willow? I'm so shocked!" She then took a flat tone, "Cool. Thanks." She took the earring.

"Uh, well, I'll, I'll see you anon." He began to leave.

"Can't get outta here fast enough, can you?" Ms. Calendar asked.

Giles came back in. "Truthfully, I'm even less anxious to be around computers than I used to be."

"Well, it was your book that started all the trouble this time, not a computer. Computer saved the day."

"Actually, Buffy tricking the robotic form into electrifying himself saved the day."

"Honestly, what is it about them that bothers you so much?"

"The smell."

Ms. Calendar gave him a look. "Computer's don't smell, Rupert."

"I know! Smell is the most powerful trigger to the memory there is. A certain flower or a, a whiff of smoke can bring up experiences...long forgotten. Books smell. Musty and, and, and, and rich. The knowledge gained from a computer, is, uh, it... it has no, no texture, no, no context. It's, it's there and then it's gone. If it's to last, then, then the getting of knowledge should be, uh, tangible, it should be, um... smelly."

"Well! You really are an old-fashioned boy, aren't you?"

"Well, I-I don't dangle a corkscrew from my ear."

Ms. Calendar smirked flirtatiously and replied mischievously, "That's not where I dangle it." She turned from him, leaving him standing with a bewildered expression. She walked past him with a smile.

Giles followed her with his gaze, puzzled yet intrigued.

Outside at the fountain, Xander and Buffy were trying to cheer Willow up.

"We gonna go to the Bronze tonight? We three?" Xander asked.

"It'll be fun!" Buffy added.

"Yeah, Willow, fun? Remember fun? That thing where you smile?" He smiled.

"Oh, I'm sorry guys. I'm just thinking about..."

"Malcolm?" Buffy asked knowingly.

"Malcolm, Moloch... whatever he's called. The one boy that's really liked me, and he's a demon robot. What does that say about me?" Willow asked.

"It doesn't say anything about you," Bufy told her.

"I mean, I thought I was really falling..."

Buffy interrupted, "Hey, did you forget? The one boy I've had the hots for since I've moved here turned out to be a vampire."

"Right, and the teacher I had a crush on? Giant praying mantis?" He smiled goofily.

"That's true." Willow smiled.

"Yeah, that's life on the Hellmouth," Xander stated.

"Even Giles and Ms. Calendar seem to be...tense around each other," Buffy replied. "Let's face it: none of us are ever gonna have a happy, normal relationship."

"We're doomed!" Xander exclaimed.

"Yeah!" Willow agreed.

They all laughed. Their laughter quickly became nervous and came to a stop. Only the fountain could be heard as they each considered their plight.


End file.
